Intelligence can be shared with US on terror suspects, court decides

THE SUPREME Court has formally announced there is no bar on the UK sharing intelligence with the United States about two suspected Islamic State terrorists.

El Shafee Elsheikh and Alexanda Kotey are accused of belonging to a cell of executioners in Syria – nicknamed The Beatles because of their British accents – responsible for killing a number of Western captives.

The pair were captured in January 2018, sparking an international row over whether they should be returned to the UK for trial or face justice in another jurisdiction.

Elsheikh’s mother, Maha

Elgizouli,

brought a challenge to former Home Secretary Sajid Javid’s decision to share evidence with US authorities without seeking assurances the men would not be executed if convicted in the US.

Her case was dismissed by the High Court in January 2019 but that decision was overturned in

March this year by a panel of seven Supreme Court justices, who unanimously allowed her appeal – ruling that the decision to share evidence with the US was unlawful under the Data Protection Act.

Kotey and Elsheikh are now in custody in the US and American officials revealed last week, in a letter to Home Secretary Priti Patel

from US Attorney General William Barr, that they will not insist on the death penalty for the pair following any prosecution.

On Wednesday, the Supreme Court published a court order – drawn up at the time of the ruling in March – which formally lifted a stay that prevented further material about the pair being shared with US authorities until Ms Elgizouli’s appeal had been determined.

According to the Associated Press, Mr Barr said in the letter: “I know that the United Kingdom shares our determination that there should be a full investigation and a criminal prosecution of Kotey and Elsheikh.”